The whole Martin clan came to Boston this weekend to move in my sister, aka my and Mike’s roomie for the summer. We adventured around Copley Square on Saturday, including a stop at Restoration Hardware and, OMG. I’m moving in. Mike told me 1000000 times I would love it there, but obvi I didn’t listen until I actually went to shop visit. Beeeaa-uuuty.
On Sunday we spent the day in Marblehead, with perfect weather and an impromptu photo shoot or two (see last photo). Family fun for all ;)
It was hawwwwwt in Boston this weekend. 95 degrees-sweating by 8AM-get me near a fan rightnoworI’mgoingtolose it HOT. Mike and I spent the weekend beating the heat, and - despite the constant state of sweating - it ended up being one of our favorite weekends in Boston!
So you wanna #beattheheat? Here’s what you can do…
Step one: ICE CREEAAAAM, duh. Rainbow sprinkles FTW.
Step two: Get near the water, ASAP. We took the ferry out to Spectacle Island and it was perfect! It was pretty deserted and we found a little spot of beach to have a picnic and dip our toes in the water. 
Step three: Recruit someone else to make dinner for you. Why sweat in the kitchen when you can have your own personal chef making you grilled pizzas??! Thanks, Mike and Katy!
Step four: Find some more water. Get in it. Try not to get eaten by a snapping turtle.
Step five: Find some shade. Get in touch with your natural side.
Step six: YOGURTLAND. One just opened in Coolidge Corner and OMG. OH.mg. The flavors are out of this worrrrld and? Unlimited free samples. Get on it.
Step seven: Decide that the day your apartment reaches the highest temperature is the day you’re going to clean it out. Assist your roommate (ahem, MIKE) in cleaning out their closet (ahem, FIFTY T-SHIRTS [and one pair of soccer cleats FROM HIGH SCHOOL] LATER) and collect a dumpster-sized mass of garbage and donations. Feel suuper zen after ridding your apartment of all Mike’s the clutter.*
Step eight: Fall into bed after a full and glorious weekend and try to figure out how to sleep in a way that the bed/sheets/blankets/your clothes don’t touch your ridiculous left-shoulder, right-kneecap sunburn. Make a mental note to get better at applying sunscreen.
*This has nothing to do with beating the heat. I just needed the world to know that Mike has been hoarding t-shirts (and millions of various other items, see: this insane glove collection) and my intervention saved him.
Hi friends! How was your Memorial Day weekend??
Mike and I took the train to Maine on Saturday to meet our friends Liz and Dave in Portland. We hit up Shipyard and Duckfat (obv), then headed to camp for some good old fashioned relaxation. We sat around the fire, made peanut butter cup s’mores, visited Freeport to hit up the JCrew outlet 50% sale (!!), stumbled upon a field of frolicking baby cows (truly!), accidentally-on-purpose wore red, white and blue pants to showcase our Memorial Day spirit, and had a cookout on Monday just as the sun finally peeked out. Another awesome Maine weekend!
I’m baaaack! I’m going to try my hand at a more casual approach to blogging - more life updates/photos, fewer recipes, same amount of crazy stories of my adventures. I hope you’ll stick around!
Mike’s parents came to visit this past weekend, and we took a day trip up to Rockport and Gloucester. We hit up Halibut Point State Park, ate lobster rolls by the ocean, and just be-bopped around. It was a beautiful day!
Hi, friends!
I’m here to apologize for my major absence this past month. I wish I had a really awesome explanation, like I just adopted a lion cub and am so busy taking care of it that I have no time for blogging - but the truth is, I’ve been feeling a bit uninspired.
I realized that baking, and taking pictures of things I bake, and writing about things I bake, was starting to feel like a chore. This whole thing started as a creative outlet and way for me to share my kitchen concoctions, silly stories, and love of sprinkles, and I never want it to feel like I’m doing it because I have to. So for now I’m taking a bit of a hiatus. It’s not goodbye forevs… I hope!
Who knows? Maybe I’ll be back tomorrow, or next week, or next month. But for now I want to say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! This blog has been the most fun and it’s been a blast to read all of your comments, be a part of the blogging community, and share my sweet life ;)
Catch ya on the flipside!
Yesterday I walked all the way from Beacon Hill to Fort Point Channel to the Public Garden (that’s like, all of Boston) without. wearing. a coat.
Do you know what this means??? SPRING HAS SPRUNG.
#happydance
#happydance #happydance
#HAPPYDANCE
So full of happy, in fact, that I finally concluded my blogging hiatus, dusted off my sprinkle cabinet, and baked you a giant cookie! So many colors! So much happy!
I know I’m like every other person in the world when I say I didn’t know I was in a deep dark cold-weather depression until I finally felt the warmth of the sun, but really? Can we ever talk about it enough? SPRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING. Blue skies and birds chirping! Colorful flowers and leaves on trees! NO MORE MITTENS!
Also #happydance-inducing?? I baked this cookie using coconut oil instead of butter and it is reeeeal good. And there are rainbow sprinkles inside. Doo-dee-doo-dee-dooooo.
Springtime Happiness Cookie Cake (adapted from this cookie pie)
yield: one 9-inch cookie cake
Ingredients
Directions
*You can use an 8-inch or 10-inch cake pan, whatever you have on hand. Just adjust the time by a few minutes (longer bake time for 8-inch, shorter for 10-inch) to account for the different size.
**Or.. don’t let it cool, top it with vanilla ice cream, and eat it straight from the pan. ;)
Lately I’ve been having tons of food revelations.
It started with kale chips. I’m pretty sure I’m the last being on earth to hop on the kale chip train. Like, WHAT have I been waiting for???? Kale chips are like eating air!!! Delicious, nutritious, super crispy air. I want kale chips all day every day UNTIL THE END OF TIME. Please remind me of this the next time I start resisting a trend.
Next: hard-boiled eggs. Umm…yeah. I really don’t have an excuse. I think I thought they weren’t good so I never bothered trying them but…WHY?! They make my salad 2352353262 bajillion times better! And more filling! Eggs!
Aside: I’ve decided I want to get chickens! We’ll talk about this later.
And speaking of salads… my sister recently introduced me to fresh peas on my salads. HELLO. I love how they *pop!* when you bite into them. The last time I ate peas I was 10 and had been pushing them around my plate for at least 2 hours, refusing to eat the one last bite that would release me from the dinner table. What was I thinking???? Peas! Duh! Yum!
Um, also? Lentils. I want to knock myself over the head. LENTILS ARE MAD YUMMY AND GOOD FOR YOU, MELANIE. WAKE UP. Cooked in a little vegetable broth and served with cous cous? Eeeeeattmeee.
And finally….baking without flour. Who knew it was possible? I certainly did NOT. I always thought the rules of baking were:
So it came as a total surprise when I decided to bake cookies sans rule #4 and they came out AMAZINGLY.
W-O-W. Chewy ooey gooey melty goodness.
Have you had any food revelations? What other delicious things am I missing out on??!
Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (adapted very lightly from Martha Stewart)
yield: about 24 cookies
Ingredients
Directions
*I wanted my cookies to be a bit bigger so I made roughly 1 1/2-2 tablespoon balls of dough. If you do this, make sure to add about a minute of baking time.
